GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 349.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,068 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,717 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $30.44 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $16.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Foodservice, and International segments. The company provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others.